Mosin barrel slugging gone horribly wrong

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Use the drill bits in stages, and only use hand power. Start small and work your way up, so that you can get a little bite with increasing size. I removed a lead plug out of a Colt caused by a squib load (Winchester recall). It took a bit of time, but out it came, and with no scratches. Steel isn't that easy to scratch, particularly with cheap Chinese drill bits. Those bits were good for something after all! Just not cutting steel.
 
My suggestion is to get a brass rod and shape the tip pyrmid style and drill the dowel rod out then use the brass rod to drive out the sinker. It will take time but the brass rod is soft enough to not do damage yet hard enough to chip awat the dowel pieces a little bit at a time.
 
Brass Rod Vs Aluminum Rod

hartcreek...

I like your recommendation about the shape of the rod. I bought 2 just in case from Home Depot. Although, instead of brass rods I bought 3 foot sections of 1/4" aluminum rods. That is all they had for softer metals. I guess they also had zinc rods but I chose the softer metal...

I am going to chop 1 of the rods up a bit into multiple sizes so that the rods maintain rigidity while "drilling" with my home made aluminum drill bits. Like I said, I am going to be doing it in sections of a few inches at a time as I am not in a hurry. I figure over a day of alternately soaking the wood in the barrel in WD40 and drilling it should be pretty cake.

Logically, this should work. I will keep my fingers crossed. For giggles I will take photos of my progress as I do this and then post them if it works out well.
 
Hand power vs Machine power drill bits

Strafer Gott...

Thanks for this recommendation. I was just going to chuck it in my hand drill but I can see the advantage of "trying" to do it by hand before the drill. I think I will grab my aluminum drill bit with a pair of vice grips and us a small piece of wood as a spindle holder and press down while turning it both directions with the vice grips. Only thing I can think of right now....but I will definitely try the hand power first before the machine power to "baby" my bore :)

Thanks to everyone for the great recommendations. The small detail recommendations have definitely helped me iron out my plan of attack.
 
Not a lot of help at this point, but why does anyone feel the need to push the slug material full length of the barrel??

Chamber casting material would certainly have been easier and less costly, than all of this other bother.

Just my not so humble opinion.
 
I have not done this,offering an idea.

Easton offers a 9/32 (.281) od aluminum arrow shaft.

You can figure out the ID and get a 36 in piece of O-1 drill rod from MSC or another supplier that will be about .015 smaller.

Use the arrow shaft to line the bore and grind a spade or gun drill tip on the drill rod.

I'd try to go a little at a time,limiting protrusion of the drill from the tube to less than an inch or so.That should limit deflection.and help protect the bore.

I'd figure"OK,I screwed up,and scrapped this rifle.Bummer.OK,I can order a new MN from AIM surplus.Or? .But for now,I have nothing to lose!!So I can have some fun trying."
You also might try a ball puller,pretty much a wood screw fixed to a cleaning rod,to pull,rather than push your obstruction.It may overcome the wedging.

If you can figue a way to drill apilot hole,like a tap drill hole for the ballpuller screw,that willhelp.Hobby shops carry brass telescoping tube in small diameters 12 in long,and aircraft drills are commonly available in 12 in lengths.

IMO,I would not let any tool rotate on the bore.I'd work through a tube.
 
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Just drill it out, unless you have a rare/valuable mosin the worst that can happen is you buy another $100 rifle and have some spare parts for it.
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Yeah, it wasn't worth much to begin with and (IMHO) not worth much less now. Sorry Dude, I consider the MN as a bayonet extension at best.
 
With DaleA's reference, I thought I should point out that this statement:
FrankenMauser said:
After very painstakingly drilling (by hand), cutting, and pulling pieces of the dowels out... the slug was still stuck.
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...Refers to actually using a drill bit chucked in a pin vise. I wasn't drilling with a power tool of any kind.
I was very carefully, methodically drilling with only the power of my fingers, and clearing out the small chips as I went.
Then, of course, I went to the penetrating oil and hammer drill noted in the post.

In my case, that was possible because the slug was stuck fairly close to the muzzle; but it may not be an option for slugs stuck farther from the muzzle or chamber.


Also.... drill bits bite VERY quickly in lead, if you aren't careful. Don't get impatient and break a bit off in the slug.
 
If you haven't already soaked the wood with a liquid, I'd not do that

Dry wood will chip easier than wet, and any liquids will just make it swell tighter in the bore

Don't put in any oil until it's time to remove metal
 
Leadloader,I suggest you do not under any circumstance put water in the bore.The wood will swell,and get stuck tighter.And the rust that will grow will eat pits in your barrel and stick the wood tighter.I suggest you not use the acrylic rod,either.
 
I wonder about using vinegar...

I wonder if white vinegar might help. It's a weak acid, so it won't AGGRESSIVELY attack the metals in the barrel. On the other hand, on contact with lead, it forms lead acetate, which is very soluble in water, and would be easily rinsed away (so you needn't LEAVE water in the barrel, just flush the barrel out with it).

If I did the calculations right, and assuming that the reaction went to 50% completion, I would expect each application to remove about 17 grains of lead, when the lead acetate is rinsed out.

Were I to try it, I'd cork the chamber end, pour in the vinegar to within 1"or 2" of the muzzle, and leave it muzzle up in the warmest room in the house for about an hour. Invert the muzzle, with (GLOVED!) thumb over it every 15 to 20 minutes, then rinse. I'd try this two or 3 times, THEN try tapping it out gently.

JUSt a thought.
 
And people wonder why gunsmiths are crotchety.
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LOL! And people wonder why we gunsmiths charge as much as we do! As in: if I do something I shouldn't and break it, I will fix it for free. If you do something you shouldn't and break something, this is going to be a learning experience.

Whatever you do, I would recommend you not put vinegar, water, salad dressing, soy sauce, soda pop, pancake syrup, or any other water based liquid solutions into the bore and leave them there. They will cause rust. Note I said "will", not "may". But, hey! This has been going on for a while, maybe it's just for entertainment, in which case maybe vinegar will be entertaining!

BTW, vinegar is a 4%-5% solution of acetic acid, so I seriously doubt it will remove 17 grains of lead with each application. It typically is not a good thing for metals.
 
I wonder about using vinegar...
I wonder if white vinegar might help.
Click to expand...
No liquid is going to help until the wood is removed, and since no one can predict how long that will take, an acidic liquid would be worse than plain water

You can't "flush" it out when the bore is plugged with debris
 
Update on removing the broken wood dowel fragments from Savage 308 bore

Good deal! The process works but it is darn time consuming. I just started it about 30 mins ago. I sprayed WD40 down the barrel and used my home made 1/4" aluminum drill bits. I tried the original head shape of a pyramid but it did not work as well as the shape of a flat head screw driver with the corners nicked off. Again, I used aluminum NOT steel as my "make shift" drill bits. I got through about 4 inches of embedded wood.

I tried hand cranking my bits but it was a NO GO. Finally chucked it into my drill and just decided to go slow. The aluminum bits need some refinement now and again with a file but it DEFINITELY gets through the wood. I am letting it soak now and will pick it up again in about 1/2 hour or so.

I thought the wood would come out in wood colored pieces but with the heat the aluminum drill bit produces and the WD40 it is coming out as black powdery/clumpy gook. Sort of reminds me of the oil residue you would find under the hood of your car. I am only drilling for 15-20 seconds at a time while applying some pressure and then backing it off to remove gook. I don't want the area to get HOT under any circumstances.

I am using Q-tips to clean out my work but I am getting deeper now and I think I will snake out my bore brush to remove the gunk as I am going.

Will post pics of my bits when I am done.
 
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